Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

forms are, in some cases at least, radically ambiguous: the G-stem form in line 332 would
seem to correspond to the common use of verbal reduplication to code the plurality of an
absolutive argument, whereas the later reduplication in line 342 corresponds to the
D-stem reduplication identified by Yoshikawa.
The other type of D-stem reduplication is complementary in that, rather than taking a
verb with a direct object and introducing an adjectival component, what Yoshikawa calls
“denominative reduplication” takes an adjectival root and introduces a direct object,
resulting in a kind of causative, or to be more precise, resultative construction.
Yoshikawa notes that “[m]ost of the verbs assignable to this group seem to derive
themselves from adjectives, in particular, those denoting colour terms, luminosity, [and]
cleanliness” (Yoshikawa 1993, 305).
(6) Groups III, E (Yoshikawa 1993, 305)
82. tam.ma eb-bu-um bright, shiny
83. tam.tam.ma ub-bu-bu-um to make bright, shiny
84. dag 2.ga el-lum pure
85. dag 2.dag 2.ga ul-lu-lum to purify
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